Fresh Thyme Market capitalizing on low crab prices while they last

Snow crab continues to be a retail staple this year thanks to its consistently low pricing, and one U.S. regional grocery chain has capitalized on the trend through promotions, an effective supplier partnership, and marketing efforts aimed at enticing budget-conscious consumers.

As soon as Canadian snow crab prices declined earlier this year, Downers Grove, Illinois, U.S.A.-based Fresh Thyme Market, which operates 70 stores in the U.S. Midwest, seized the opportunity by partnering with major U.S. crab importer Direct Source LLC, based in Bellevue, Washington, U.S.A.

The grocery chain has worked with Direct Source for years, but this collaboration is unique in that it’s exclusive, according to Fresh Thyme Meat and Seafood Sales, Merchandising, Marketing, and Procurement Lead Jason Resner. Resner told SeafoodSource that from his perspective working with one trusted supplier is much better than bidding multiple seafood vendors against one another.

“If you partner with the right supplier, they share their profit and loss with you and you share it with them,” Resner said. “You work together on how to make [the mutual partnership] the best it can possibly be.”

One of the profitable crab promotions Fresh Thyme implemented after partnering with Direct Source was selling large snow crab clusters for USD 6.99 (EUR 6.36) per pound, and king crab claws and arms for USD 17.99 (EUR 16.36) per pound, leading up to Father’s Day – which took place in the U.S. on 18 June.

“We [Fresh Thyme] expect to see increased sales and volume for meat and seafood items this Father’s Day based on the promotions we will be executing,” Resner told SeafoodSource in June. The better retail prices allowed the chain to “really offer some great values which we weren’t offering last year,” Resner said at the time.

The promotions didn’t stop there.

For Independence Day, which takes place in the U.S. on 4 July, the retailer also promoted …

Photo courtesy of Fresh Thyme Market